Crown Prince Sultan thanks interior minister for campaign to help Pakistan quake victims

CP gives orders to finish 2nd stage of expanding Armed Forces Hospital in Jazan

Prince Sultan orders defense ministry to hand over three archeological forts in Madinah

Two districts in Hael named after Saudi King, CP

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, thanked Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz for his efforts to help Pakistan earthquake victims.

Prince Sultan also hailed the Saudi campaign and the medical efforts exerted by the campaign to help Pakistan from the devastating earthquake.

The Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims (SPAPEV) has contributed $1.8 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan to fund the construction of five new basic health centers in districts affected by the earthquake.

“About 75 percent of health facilities were destroyed or significantly damaged in this remote and inaccessible region. Even before the earthquake, the health system was very weak,” says Martin Mogwanja, the UNICEF Country Representative for Pakistan. “Thanks to the generosity of the people and government of Saudi Arabia, and the tireless efforts of Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz, Interior Minister, thousands of children and their families will be able to benefit from high quality health and nutrition services,” a UNICEF press release issued said.

Two basic health centers sponsored by SPAPEV will soon be completed in Abbottabad and Muzaffarabad, and construction is expected to begin on the remaining three health centers shortly. Once completed and fully equipped, each facility will provide primary care facilities to about 60,000 people, including children and women.

UNICEF Gulf area office represented by Dr. Ayman A. Abu Laban expresses its sincere thanks and gratitude to the government of Saudi Arabia, being the Kingdom of Humanity under the leadership of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Prince Naif who is also head of the Saudi Public Campaign for the Assistance of Pakistan Earthquake Victims.

“This donation is one of a continuous chain of support, including occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon and now Pakistan; and the fruits of a growing partnership since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in July 2007 between UNICEF and the Saudi Committee for Relief. We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their strong commitment to provide humanitarian relief to children, women and families who were deeply distressed by the disaster which resulted in their living in very difficult circumstances,” added Dr. Abu Laban.

The October 2005 earthquake killed an estimated 73,000 people and devastated the infrastructure of affected districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. About 3.3 million people were left homeless, 42,000 children were orphaned, and 23,000 children were disabled.

UNICEF in collaboration with the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and its partners have provided health and nutrition services to an estimated 2.3 million people in six districts - about two-thirds of the affected population - by establishing high quality health centers, lifesaving interventions such as vaccinating more than a million children against measles, and developing a network of Community Health Workers to bring trained care to the homes of over a million people in this mountainous region.

As part of a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in earthquake-affected districts, UNICEF has supported therapeutic nutrition services to over 25,000 malnourished children and mothers, and provided safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to nearly a million people. Efforts to promote and facilitate education served about 464,000 children, of whom over 36,000 are now attending primary school for the first time.

UNICEF efforts have contributed to the birth registration of 85,000 children under the age of five in earthquake-affected areas alone.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary General Abdulrahman bin Hamad Ala'ateyah.

During the audience, the crown prince was briefed on the results of the meeting of GCC foreign ministers as well as efforts to boost GCC joint work.

The audience was attended by Prince Dr. Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Mosaed, Advisor to the Crown Prince, and other officials.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received General Michael Hayden, the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and the accompanying delegation.

During the audience, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed issues of common interest between the two countries.

The audience was attended by Prince Dr. Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Mosaed, Advisor to the Crown Prince, Prince Abdulaziz bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Chief of General Intelligence, and other officials.

Under directives from Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, and at his expense the second stage of expanding the Armed Forces Hospital in Jazan project was completed.

The General Director of the general directorate of the medical services of the Armed Forces, General Kitab Bin Aid al-Uteibi, expressed his appreciation to Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz for his support to the armed forces in various domains.

Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL) Dr Abdullah Al-Turki has expressed appreciation for the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to the international Islamic dialogue conference, organized last week by the MWL.

Dr Al-Turki conveyed to the King the appreciation of the participants of the conference on the occasion of the end of the conference.

He noted that the Ulema, thinkers and leaders of the Muslim minorities throughout the world were happy over the success of the conference in laying a scientific way for an objective Islamic dialogue with followers of the other religions, cultures and civilization, and they are hopeful that the outcome of the dialogue will be positive.

Dr Al-Turki said the participants of the conference do appreciate the role of the King in supporting Islam and Muslims.

A similar cable of thanks was sent by Dr Al-Turki to Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General.

In his cable, Dr Al-Turki expressed appreciation for the great attention given by him to the conference.

Dr Al-Turki also thanked Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Interior Minister, for the great attention given by him to the conference and for the cooperation of the organs of the interior ministry as regards extending facilities to the conference's guests.

He also thanked Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the Governor of Makkah region, for the great attention given by him to the conference and the cooperation of all in Makkah region for making the conference successful.

On the other hand, Dr Al-Turki thanked Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, and expressed appreciation for the great attention given by him to the conference and the efforts exerted by the officials of the Foreign Ministry to make the conference successful.

Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Hail Region has announced that Hail International Exhibition and Conference of Real Estate, Tourism and Supporting Industries Investments will be held on November 1-4 with international participation of European, Asian, Arab and Gulf companies to be organized by Hail Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with MSA International Group.

In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), he pointed out that the exhibition is an opportunity to brief investors on the most important projects in Hail region in particular and other Kingdom's regions in general.

Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz charity Foundation received the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Bin Abdulaziz award for dutifulness for this year for its great efforts in mapping out social development and humanitarian services programs.

Meanwhile, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Secretary General of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, thanked Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, for his orders for the Ministry of Defense to hand over three archeological forts in al-Madinah al-Munawara.

He valued this generous initiative from the Crown Prince to protect such archeological sites for their important historical value.

Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz had ordered to hand three historical forts from the Defense and Aviation Ministry; al-Houfayra on the Tabouk road, al-Masiejed on al-Madinah-Yanbu road and al-Khief fort.

Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs Prince Khalid bin Sultan patronized at the King Khalid airbase the ceremony to honor the participants of the Red Flag air combat, held recently in Las Vegas at nearby Nellis Air Force Base.

The Royal Saudi Air Force took part in the exercise with the US Air Force and the air forces of a number of other friendly nations.

Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air forces of the United States and its allies, and is conducted on the Nevada Test and Training Range, north of Las Vegas. Red Flag is one of a series of advanced training programs administered by the US Air Force Warfare Center and Nellis through the 414th Combat Training Squadron.

The Red Flag exercises, held periodically at the Nellis Air Force Base since 1975, are very realistic aerial war games.

The purpose is to give pilots from the U.S., NATO and other allied countries an opportunity to practice and refine their skills for real combat situations. This includes the use of "enemy" hardware and live ammunition for bombing exercises within the Nellis complex. The exercises with flares and all kinds of aircraft can make a spectacular show, especially at night.

There are usually two or three sorties per day (except on weekends): One or two sorties during daytime and one in the evening or at night. The night exercises usually include only one half of the daytime forces.

Upon the directives of the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the higher committee to map out the strategy to distribute Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz's grant; the defense ministry's plot of land north of Hael city allocated to Hael's citizens developmental housing, held a meeting under Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen, Prince of Hael region and the head of the higher authority to develop Hael, with the attendance of other princes and senior officials at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation for developmental Housing in Riyadh.

Prince Saud valued the grant and asserted it represents Saudi leadership's keenness to its citizens.

He underlined that the grant would turn Hael into a civilized district with all services and required infrastructure.

For his part, Engineer Abdulaziz al-Toub, Secretary General of Hael region, highlighted the advantages and the constructional components of the grant.

Prince Saudi watched a video representing a preliminary suggestion from Mackenzie company.

The higher committee for its part, presented some ideas to develop and distribute the grant, including planning and designing the area and the mechanism to establish the infrastructure.

The meeting also focused on reviewing steps to be discussed with the concerned bodies.

After the meeting, Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen told Saudi Press Agency (SPA), that the grant will be divided into two districts; one named after the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques and the other after Crown Prince contain 500,000 of Hael residents. He expected to start implementing the project during a year.